Prescott police officer will resign after reenacting George Floyd murder in Minnesota classroom
The Wisconsin police officer who was banned from substitute teaching in Minnesota after reenacting the police killing of George Floyd in the classroom is no longer with the department.
The Prescott City Council unanimously approved a separation agreement with Steven D. Williams earlier this week. The agreement shows Friday will be Williams’ last day before he resigns “in lieu of termination.”
Last month, the South Washington School District said it banned Williams after he “repeatedly made racially harmful comments,” “told sexist jokes” and “stated that police brutality isn’t real” while filling in as a teacher at Woodbury High School, according to a letter from school officials.
Teachers on Call, a private company that employs substitutes for school districts across Minnesota, fired Williams after the incident. The company said he had passed all background screens, adding it has a “zero-tolerance policy for any form of violent, aggressive, or harmful behavior.”
Williams, who didn’t return multiple voice messages from 5 INVESTIGATES seeking comment, joined the Prescott police force in July 2022 after more than eight years in law enforcement-related positions in Montana.
He’s been on administrative leave from the department since Oct. 16.
Personnel records show Williams received one documented verbal warning after violating Prescott Police Department policy by missing a mandatory squad meeting in May. The police chief noted in a letter that Williams said he “forgot to show up” and it wasn’t the first time he had missed a meeting.
Records also show the police officer damaged his cruiser twice while on-duty: On Dec. 24, 2022, Williams backed into a tree in a shared parking lot and then, on Aug. 5, 2023, tore the radio antenna off his cruiser’s roof while backing into a garage door.
A racially-based complaint against Williams was deemed by the police chief as “unfounded” and “without merit” earlier this year, according to a letter in his personnel file. Body-worn camera footage of the incident shows the person who complained kept yelling at Williams, but he never responded and got back into his squad car.
In his application, Williams indicated his “life experiences” gave him “the ability to sympathize with others, and also be a source of information and direction when citizens are confronted with unexpected issues.”